The way we live

Dear friends, we have these promises from God. So we should make ourselves pure—free from anything that makes our body or our soul unclean. Our respect for God should make us try to be completely holy in the way we live. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

We have been studying the life of Jonah, a prophet called to go to a sinful nation to warn them to turn to God. As we have discovered, it is really impossible to outrun God, keep others away from the consequences of our sin, or live forever in our rebellion. As he finds himself thrown overboard (the very thing he suggested to the sailors), he is swallowed by a big fish. In our sin, there is always 'darkness' of some form. The sea was dark, the belly of the fish was dark, and the emotional state of Jonah was pretty dark, as well. Sin takes us down - it never lifts us up.

While Jonah was in the stomach of the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God. He said, “I was in very bad trouble. I called to the Lord for help, and he answered me. I was deep in the grave. I cried to you, and you heard my voice." (Jonah 2:1-3) 

Jonah realized the 'darkness' was his own doing - rebellion is always a matter of choice. The 'big fish' held him 'captive' for three days and three nights - sufficient time to realize the dark place he was in was not where he wanted to be! If the rough seas had not been a good enough warning, the darkness that surrounded him in the belly of the fish would soon become so overwhelming that he would cry out to God. Sin has a way of presenting consequences in ever-increasing significance, doesn't it? Rough seas, discarded cargo, and an angry mob of sailors was one place of darkness for Jonah, but he still didn't think these consequences enough to cry out to God for mercy.

We might not realize how far we have moved away from the place God wants us to be until we experience the darkness that surrounds us on every side. One thing I don't want us to lose sight of in our study is God's grace. He didn't need to prepare the 'big fish' for Jonah, but he did. We don't know why Jonah wasn't just chewed up, dissolved in the stomach of the fish, and that would be that. What we do know is that even in our worst rebellion God doesn't abandon us. He 'prepared' the fish - somehow that included Jonah not being utterly destroyed. Even in our rebellion, God gives grace. It would be much better to never have rebelled, but we can take hope in knowing that he prepares a way for us to come out of that darkness. Just sayin!